Graphical user interfaces have become increasingly standard as part of operating environments for computers such as personal computers (PC's), as well as for computers running within audio-visual equipment such as televisions (TV's) and video cassette recorders (VCR's). For example, the graphical user interface provided by versions of the Microsoft Windows operating system includes a user-controllable pointer. The user is able to control the pointer through the use of a pointing device, such as a mouse or touch pad, to, among other things, access controls displayed within the graphical user interface on a display device of the computer. These controls are associated with computer programs running on the computer (i.e., the operating system itself, application programs, etc.).
However, because of the increasing number of programs being required to run on a computer concurrently, more and more controls are required to be displayed within the graphical user interface on the display device at the same time, placing a premium on the area of the display device dedicated for this purpose. For example, whereas at one time only one or two programs may have run on a computer concurrently—such as a word processor running within an operating system—now many such computer programs are being run. This is especially true in convergence systems, where besides application programs such as word processors, spreadsheets, etc., computer programs mimicking real world devices, such as television tuner programs, telephony programs, etc., are also being run. Thus, a display device must increasingly display large amounts of information, particularly controls associated with all of these programs.
Ultimately, this has resulted in the graphical user interfaces displayed on such display devices to become cluttered with the controls of the computer programs running on the computer. Some or all of the controls of each computer program may be running on the computer at the same time, such that the user of the computer may encounter difficulty in deciphering the controls, and therefore in using the computer as well. The controls of one computer program may interfere with those of another computer program. There is a need, therefore, for better management of on-screen controls of computer programs within a graphical user interface provided by the operating environment of a computer. Better management of the on-screen controls should make it easier for the user to decipher the controls, such that using the computer becomes easier as well.